Marksonland

My brother has always been a great accumulator of information - some useful, some, shall we say, "trivial." This always makes him interesting to talk to. Well, true to form, in his 5 months living in Honolulu he has not let me down: he seems to know the area like a longtime local. Here are five fun facts I've learned from Tom in only a few short days:

1. Honolulu has some of the lowest violent crime rates in the US and some of the highest petty crime rates.

2. Pronouncing some of those seemingly un-pronounceable Hawaiian names is much easier than it appears - just literally pronounce every vowel. (ex. Nuuanu - is Noo-oo-a-noo)

3. Pineapple Upside Down Cake came to favor after it won the Pillsbury Bake Off contest years ago.

4. The "swimming hole" outside the Doris Duke house in Diamond Head could never come to be today - she dynamited the coral to create it. A definite no no these days.

5. The H1 is, despite it residing solely on Oahu, a part of our interstate highway system.

Substantive local knowledge or trivia? I'll let you decide. My bit of local knowledge that I learned here: check out Buzz's steakhouse and stay away from Zippy's.